How to draw manga

Lesson 1: To all who want to become a manga artist

The following list includes tools that are not sold in ordinary stationery stores. You can find them at art supply stores or online stores.

Pencils / Mechanical pencils

It is best to choose one that you think easy-to-use. Also, you need to choose pencils that are soft enough, so that you can erase a pencil line easily. It depends on your writing pressure, but B or 2B pencil (based on JIS standard) is recommended. As for automatic pencil leads, it might be easy to use thicker leads than 0.5mm, like 0.7 or 0.9mm. It varies between individuals, though.

Erasers

This may surprise you, but erasers are very important. You need to choose one with which you can erase completely without forming a nap on paper. There are a number of varieties of erasers, so find one that suits you. When you look for erasers, it is important to check its size, shape and characteristics. Erasers have different characteristics, for example, one that you can erase pencil lines lightly, or one that you can come together its eraser shavings easily. If you are comfortable using erasers, you can get more work done.

Papers

Today, manuscript paper for manga is useful. The characteristic varies depending on the paper manufacturer. When you look for papers, it is important to check its price, ruled line on paper and how comfortably you can write on it. If you want to become a professional mangaka(manga artist), use B4 (based on JIS) size paper. However, our lesson “Mangaka ni naru zyuku” uses A4 size for scanning. The weight of paper is almost equal to its thickness, but you need to think your working characteristics, like writing pressure, and intended purpose, like how much screentones you intend to use, before you choose paper.

Pens

Dip pens There are many kinds of dip pens, for example, G-pens, kabura pens (turnip pens), school pens and mapping pens. They have difference in how the pen writes. Even they have the same pen tip, how the pen writes is different according to its manufacturer. Try several dip pens and then find the one you feel comfortable writing with.Pen holders The pens that are introduced above like G-pens, kabura pens (turnip pens) and school pens have the same pen holders, except for mapping pens. But, there are pen holders that you can use with both mapping pens and other pens. They are made of various materials and come in a variety of shapes, so go find the one that suits you.

Tools for drawing a manga (comic) Part2

Rulers

Straight edge rulers 35 -40cm rulers are easy to use. If it’s too short, you can’t reach long enough when you write a line, and on the other way around, it stands in the way of writing.

French curves A set of 3 rulers is enough. Even if you have many rulers, the rulers that you use a lot will be determined as you draw manga.

Adjustable curves (Zizai zyougi in Japanese) It’s difficult (for me) to use… I want to see someone who can use it well.

Template rulers It’s useful when you draw a circle.

Ellipse-plate rulers At first glance, ellipse-plate rulers seem to be useful, but it is often unable to fit into shapes or sizes that you want to use.

How to use rulers When using a pen to write, turn a ruler upside down and then use an angled side of the ruler. It is because a space between a ruler and a paper is necessary. Otherwise, the ink bleeds on the paper. Also, when writing with a pen, hold a pen perpendicularly as much as possible.

Screentones

There are many kinds of screentones sold by manufacturers and their prices vary. Kinds of dots (sizes and distance of dots) If dots are too light or too dark, they can’t be well printed. Basically, when using them, make dots line at an angle of 45 degrees (skew). It’s because if dots are put on a paper at a different angle, they bother when seeing.

Kinds of lines (thickness and distance of lines) When using lines: Think carefully angles of them according to the intended use.

Other kinds of screentones: there are many kinds of screentones, so use them based on the intended use. However, if too many screentones are used, the picture becomes too noisy or on the contrary it becomes monotonic. And also, doing that costs money.

How to use/put screentones on a paper

From a sheet, cut out bigger piece than the size you want to put it on, and then put it on a manuscript gently. After that, neatly cut it with cutter knife (utility knife), and peel off unwanted part. And then, press it firmly to set it. When you cut a screentone on the manuscript, cut only the screentone, be careful not to cut the paper too. Screentones are easy to be cut, so you can cut it with very little strength.

Shaping screentones

You can whittle the surface of screentones (printed side) with cutter knife’s cutting part or the other side of it in order to create some effect, such as clouds or highlights. If you use screentones of dots for this, it’s necessary to think about what angle its dots line at before whittle it. You can also use ink eraser for whittling. However, even if it looks good, it might look different when printing it out, so be careful. When it’s hard to see the effect, you can see it by making a copy.

Kasanebari (Putting 2 screentone sheets on a paper)

You can put two screentone sheets on a paper in order to create effects, but not more than 3 sheets.Coordinate kinds, angles or position of sheets with careful attention to Moire pattern (pattern produced by overlaying sheets). There are ways that utilize Moire pattern.

Digital

There is a way to do some work on a personal computer by scanning the manuscript, such as putting screentones on. You can use a PC to draw up without using any papers. There are many kinds of software used such as “Photo Shop”, “Comic Studio” etc. A process of drawing up depends on each software and personal computers, so we don’t explain in this lesson. You can use like e-mails to submit your finished work (manga) as a data or you can print out and have them as a printed one. There is a great possibility that you can use techniques by using a PC which you can’t do in an analog way, but it takes time to get used to. Also, it costs a lot to set up equipments.